My secret was I bought a mixer pack of veneer from Lee Valley and worked with that. I will try making then from wood in my shop next.

I use the method of boiling the strips that I have sanded the ends down with. I used sockets from a mechanics set as my form because the sizes vary so much. CA glue for the whole thing and I made a tapered spindle for the lathe for sanding. I also created a jam chuck for doing the inside but that can be super rude on the fingers.